Collide

On the heels of graduating college and trying to cope with her mother's death, Emily Cooper moves to New York City for a fresh start. While harboring secrets of his own, Dillon Parker takes care of Emily through her grief. Knowing he can't live without her by his side, he's sweet, thoughtful, and everything Emily has ever wanted in a man. Until she meets Gavin Blake....

i wanted to throw in the towel so many times i lost count, and it had everything to do with the narrator. she was just sub-par. maybe this just isn't her type of storyline, maybe she should stick with more victorian-type novels or just stop narration altogether. it was that bad.

she butchers the new york accents so horribly, that every time one of the characters began to speak i would cringe. lots of eye-rolling. i wish i didn't have to be so harsh but honestly, she can only seem to do TWO voices... harpy female and old man. it was bizarre. i could never tell dillon and gavin apart but worse than that, they both sounded like they were fifty year old men, not men in their late twenties/early thirties. yuck. and emily was "ok" most of the time, but fallon? dear lord. BAD.

HOWEVER, the story was great and that's why i stuck it out, and i even purchased the sequel (Pulse) and by that time i was fairly used to the lacking narration. oh well. can't win them all.

the story has a lot to offer, especially if you're someone who continues to make the wrong choice in men and can't seem to break that cycle of abuse. i thoroughly enjoyed it and loved book two as well.

Falling into You

Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Their young love is invincible and life is full of promise; then one night Kyle dies suddenly in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother, Colton, for the first time at the funeral. They both struggle to move on with life as best they can. Years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death. She seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, a heavy weight of guilt, and regret. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself.

i almost didn't purchase this. a while ago, when it first came out, i downloaded the sample on my kindle. i never bothered to open it up. all the online reviews kept talking about the sorrow in this book and how you'd need tissues the entire way through. i'd been on a Laura Kinsale kick (omg. love her stuff.) so Falling Into You kept getting pushed further and further down my list.

then it came to audible.

and i decided to give it a chance.

from the start i loved it, the characters, the story and the narration was great, too. i kept waiting for whatever tragedy to befall these two young lovers and when it finally came i was standing in my kitchen washing dinner dishes and sobbing. my kids came in and worried what was wrong and i had to gently tell them that i was wrapped up in a book. i think they were actually worried something was physically wrong with me...maybe i should have told them the dishes were hurting me? haha. next time....

so i can't tell you that all the reviews here are favorable, and i can understand some frustrations. the male narration isn't as easy as the female, but it wasn't horrible so don't let that stop you from downloading it. also, some of the sex scenes, even when they were under-age, were quite graphic but honestly? i didn't think much of that, either. i felt like i was RIGHT there with them and feeling each emotion and wanting to figure out a way to keep the tragedy from happening. sigh. but it comes. and life goes on.

there are some surprises here and there, each one catching me off-guard. love that. sometimes i can see a twist coming from a mile away, but not with this one, so that's why i've already downloaded the second book. yeah. i'll start it today. maybe while washing dishes? you bet.

take a chance. it's a tragic story that has a HEA that it so desperately needed. thank you jasinda. loved it.

The Dream Hunter

In search of a legendary mare, Lord Winter enters the crucible of the red sands, forging unbreakable bonds of loyalty and trust with his young companion in the desert. But hidden beneath the ragged costume of a Bedouin boy is a remarkable young woman: Zenia Stanhope, daughter of the extraordinary Queen of the Desert. Zenia wants nothing of the danger that Lord Winter lives for. She wants only to reach England, far from the blood and sand of the desert.

i have read some less-than-fabulous reviews on this particular laura kinsale book. so much so that i was leery about listening to it, thinking it wouldn't be very entertaining.

well. i'm glad i ignored those reviewers.

it was worth the credit.

let me say this... while i truly LOVED this book, i wanted their to be a longer "connection" at the end, when they finally made it work and wanted to be together. i wanted more time with them that way rather than the back and forth, but i'll take what i can get.

laura never disappoints in her character development. these flawed men and women have so much to give to the other and i love the hours spent listening to their journey.

nicholas does a superb job, as usual, and i am hoping that laura will have more books out soon.

take a chance. you'll be glad you did, especially if you loved the other books.

Flowers from the Storm

He's a duke. He's a mathematical genius. He can't talk and he's locked in a lunatic asylum. Only a modest Quaker girl can reach him, but when she helps him to escape, she's swept into his glittering aristocratic world, her life torn apart by his desperate attempt to save himself.

normally i don't like waiting on a sequel because lately, it seems that's all we're doing -- waiting on the second or third book to arrive and in the meantime we often forget the important details. thus, having to listen to the first book again so it's fresh in our minds and we're ready for the new installment.

well. this book is a stand-alone, and as the minutes were coming to a close, i knew i would be listening to it again. back-to-back. and i did.

and what a joy it was, too.

from beginning to end i was captured, swept away into this story, and i honestly could not get enough. we were traveling on vacation and the entire way i listened to it, and some places was so upset that my family asked if i was okay. this is one of those rare books that stays with you, and my vacation ended over a week ago and i am still thinking about it. so even though there's no sequel to Flowers from the Storm, you can still go back and listen again and find yourself feeling the same emotions. if you're like me, you'll find something you missed the first or second time around.

from early on we find out that christian suffers a stroke, and is sent away to recover. in the hospital maddy comes, because her cousin is the doctor at this hospital and unbeknownst to maddy, christian is there. it's an amazing journey these two are put on and laura kinsale delivers. she gives you whit, joy, laughter, heartache, cunning, pain, comfort but most of all, she gives you the HEA you're needing for these two lost souls.

the narration from nicholas is so unbelievably outstanding, that i rushed to get laura's next book. he's fantastic!

Flower from the Storm is definitely worth a credit, and really? it's worth two.

Pulled

Melanie Winters and Daniel Montgomery shared a love they believed bonded them together for life. After a tragic loss, overwhelming grief and misguided guilt distorts the truth, and their relationship ends in unanswered questions. For nine years, they drift through life, each unable to forget the one who holds their heart. Now, when their lives again intersect, will the power that drew them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past?

i love fairy tales. honest. i do. i love You've Got Mail and Never Been Kissed and Say Anything. i'm a romantic, but...

i found some things really lacking in this book and as much as i tried to LOVE it, and some parts i did, i still had a tough time overcoming some of the plot points. in fact, i found myself rolling my eyes and mumbling about "oh give me a break!"

the one biggest annoyance?

when melanie goes to see daniel (after being pulled from him by her idiot parents) and goes to visit him, walks into the house and does NOT see daniel (who was taking a shower). instead?! instead she listens to a jealous wannabe girlfriend, stephanie, telling her that he's moved on and daniel no longer wants melanie. so melanie LEAVES (after flying all that way to see daniel) without actually SEEING him. i really had a HARD time believing that ANY real lover/girlfriend/soulmate WHATEVER, would not say, "no. i'm here to see him. i will WAIT in the living room until he comes out of the shower."

and then the next nine years of idiocy wouldn't happen and we wouldn't have the book. lol

so of course i have to go along for the crazy ride that is this book Pulled and continue rolling my eyes when this sort of stuff happened...over and over and over.

these are my questions that really never got answered....--why did melanie's husband hate her so much? --why didn't she ever try to talk to her dad and rectify that situation?--why didn't she just PICK UP THE PHONE and call daniel?--why didn't daniel EVER try to find her? --why didn't erin tell daniel the truth rather than waiting NINE years?

there's so many annoyances with this book that i have a difficult time giving it five stars. i'm one of those reviewers that LOVES to give a book five stars if i LOVED it. i just can't do it in this case and that makes me sad because it had potential. it really did.

however, with that said, the love between these two is palpable. i felt it every time they were together. their love was perfectly written. sometimes i was upset that melanie didn't do or say the things i would, but i have to remind myself that she's young and naive.

as for the narration? i am being absolutely truthful when i say that after being an audible member for over six years, that this was one of the finest performances i've ever listened to.she was brilliant. there could have been a male voice for daniel's parts, but in all fairness to andi, i thought she was OUTSTANDING in both voices----as well as the others. i will look for her work from here on out....

in the end, i'll give Pulled three stars because it's a great book but needs some work, but a solid five stars for narration!

Entwined With You: Crossfire Series, Book 3

The worldwide phenomenon continues as Eva and Gideon face the demons of their pasts and accept the consequences of their obsessive desires.... From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I also saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside - so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat. No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

i loved book one and two. then the L O N G wait for book three. and i waited. and they changed the time. dang it. i almost didn't care by the time it was finally released, then everyone who reviewed it didn't have wonderful things to say. in fact, the first few chapters made me nervous since it felt like it had a lot of repetitive information in the beginning...

however, as the story began to unfold, i really enjoyed it--even loved it! the characters are so precious. they're trying. really trying to be better people. it just made me love them all the more and i'm hoping for their HEA in books four and five.

yes. four and five.

i've heard they'll be out soon so that's a plus. having to wait another six or seven months would drive me insane. haha

if you love this series, don't give up on it. i really hated to see it come to an end and am looking forward to the next installment! :)

Wallbanger

Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy’s athletic prowess, Carolyn is gaining an - um - intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed "dating hiatus," and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor.

Being Me: Inside Out Series, Book 2

Sara McMillan is still searching for Rebecca, the mysterious woman whose dark, erotic journal entries both enthralled and frightened her. Tormented by a strong desire to indulge the demands of her new boss while also drawn deeper into her passionate bond with the troubled artist, Chris Merit, Sara must face a past as deeply haunting as Rebecca’s written words. In one man’s arms, Sara will find the safe haven to reveal her most intimate secrets and explore her darkest fantasies. But is safety just an illusion, when the truth about Rebecca has yet to be discovered?

you already know that book one was SO good and now you want to know if the second book was just as great? well. it is.

and then some.

the characters have such depth and the love is there, albeit strained. they're trying to figure out who they are and how they can overcome past tragedies. i wanted to savor EVERY word but also, i desperately wanted them to be "okay" and didn't stop listening until this book was over. it's so good.

there's two more in the series. it's going to be a long wait. sigh.

i loved this story and grace does an outstanding job as always.

thanks to leesa for the recommendation, otherwise i'm pretty sure i would have passed this one up and that would have been a shame.

If I Were You

The journal comes to Sara McMillan by chance, when she inherits the key to an abandoned storage locker belonging to a woman named Rebecca. Sara can't resist peeking at the entries in the journal...and she finds a scintillating account of Rebecca' affair with an unnamed lover, a relationship drenched in ecstasy and wrapped in dark secrets. Obsessed with discovering Rebecca' destiny after the entries come to an abrupt end, Sara does more than observe the players in the woman's life....

i follow leesa here on audible and typically, without fail, i always love what she recommends to the rest of us. thankfully, her reviews aren't too wordy so i can get through it and know pretty quickly if she loved it or decided it wasn't a book for her.

i was not going to listen to this book. i saw it on e-reader and i dunno, it just didn't do it for me when i read the synopsis. so i passed on reading it, old-style.

then i saw leesa's review. sigh. she loved it. i knew i better get it because dang it, i knew i'd love it too.

.....and of course i did! it's filled with angst, drama, great sex scenes and there's this churning in the background of the book where you know there's stuff going on that you're going to find out. and not like. but you must know. because the skeletons must come out of their closets.

i loved it. all of it.

i moved on to book two immediately, and then after i was finished i went right back and am now on book one again...i loved it that much. also, i wanted to go back and listen to the little juicy bits i missed on the first go-round because i was so anxious to get through it! sigh. what? you know you do it too. :)

so definitely give this a try. grace grant does a SUPERB job---as always, and draws you right into the story... just like a great narrator should.

The Proposal

In the weeks following Aidan's betrayal, Emma has tried her best to move on. Ignoring his countless texts, voice mails, and flowers, she isn't sure she wants to be won back by him. But Aidan isn't going down without a fight - especially not until Emma lets him reveal the secret of his past that caused him to be so commitment phobic. But fate intervenes when premature labor forces Emma on strict bed rest for two weeks. Aidan steps forward with a shocking proposal.

i loved this book when i read it on my kindle, but the audio was just not the greatest. the voices for some of the females were far too shrill for my liking, bordering on obnoxious or valley-girl and the voice for aiden--well, i just didn't like it at all.

the problem might be that when i read the book, their voices were already in my head in a certain way. you know how that is, and then when i listened to it, well, it was just flat. didn't like it at all. so maybe it's my fault. i don't know. either way, i loved the book, but not the narrator.

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